Lily Allen - New Track

The clever girl and UK tabloid favorite has released her first single from her new record. I must admit, I love it. You can check it out on her website. It's called The Fear. --J

P.S. I'm also attaching her version of Britney's Womanizer.

Helldone 2008

Well, it’s the beginning of January 2009 which means that New Year’s Eve was celebrated all around the world. This Eve I found myself once again in beautiful Helsinki, Finland to attend Helldone, the annual three-night music festival that ends with HIM performing to their hometown at Tavastia at midnight on December 31. I went last year for my first time and for some reason just had to experience the Finnish winter one more time. I’m so glad I did and that I hadn’t burned any contacts with HIM’s people over the year because they provided me with photo access once again and I was thrilled to have the opportunity to try out a new camera. What follows is not exactly the type of book that I wrote last year. To be honest, I spent most nights drunk and happy, meeting locals and even getting caught up on world events while sharing a light with someone in the smoking area. My tripmate Jess and I spent most days sleeping, recovering, and then foraging for food before cleaning up to start another night out. It seemed appropriately “Finnish” in a way and for the first time I felt my age. Sigh. Anyway, let’s get down to why I was there in the first place...
Helldone 2008 marked the tenth anniversary of HIM’s New Year’s Eve show at Tavastia club, the tradition that began the Helldone Festival. This year was the fourth official year of the festival and unlike last year, per the fans’ request, it featured only Finnish bands. It also included 3 additional performances at Nosturi in Helsinki and then in the towns of Oulu and Tampere. The neighboring “chill-out” club next door to Tavastia, Semifinal, featured drummer Jussi69 from The 69 Eyes spinning records.
The lineup included:
HIM
KYPCK
45 Degree Woman
Stam1na
Diablo
Godsplague
The 69 Eyes
Negative
Sara
At Tavastia, I was very interested in seeing Negative, lead by striking blonde lead singer Jonne Aaron, who performed to an adoring crowd, because they are a total throwback to the Sunset Strip glam rock scene from 1986. I wish I knew more about these guys, but I can name one song that I recognized from the setlist: “Won’t Let Go”, off the 4th and latest album “Karma Killer”.
Introduced by Bam Margera and wife Missy, along with a spacy Andy McCoy from Hanoi Rocks, The 69 Eyes did not disappoint. This quintet formed back in the early ‘90s in the clubs of Helsinki and while gothic, are anything but gloomy. Their influences include Guns ‘N Roses, The Misfits, and Sisters of Mercy which made me very excited to get to see them. There’s a whole lotta look going on with this band and they always seem on the precipice of taking themselves a bit seriously, but they were a blast live. In terms of Finnish rock, these guys could be considered titans.
On New Year’s Eve, HIM sounded perfect onstage and changed up their setlist a little bit to include some old favorites like "When Love and Death Embrace" and their cover of "Rebel Yell". There were a lot of classic setlist songs like "Your Sweet 666", "The Sacrament", and "Funeral of Hearts". They didn’t play "Vampire Heart", much to my disappointment. However, Ville looked like he’d had some good rest and even more so than last year seemed to enjoy the performance. The crowd loved every minute of the New Year’s celebration, though Ville did have to dodge being hit by a banana thrown by an audience member at some point. In reaction, Ville simply shook his head and scolded the person in his strangely sedate way. He seemed to speak more Finnish than I remember from last year, though he did take a few minutes to promote his father’s sex shop in the Kallio district in English.
At the Nosturi show, a Finnish woman said to me in a vitriolic tone after I asked what Finland thinks of HIM “I think HIM is an ok band and Ville is sexy, but I don’t understand the fuss. I don’t get how “this band” has suddenly become responsible for putting Finland on the map.” I was extremely entertained by this because her boyfriend held nothing but pride for HIM and what they’ve done for Finland. In fact, he loved them so much that at one point he fell to his knees and sang HIM lyrics to her while she responded with indifference and walked away. In a purely platonic, friendship sort of way I think J and I have had a very similar type of exchange! Happy New Year everybody! UNBELIEVABLE-K

The Undertones - Teenage Kicks

Forget that it’s 2009 and let’s get in the way-back machine to 1978. Here’s my song of the day, Teenage Kicks by The Undertones. While this Irish band never made an impression in the U.S. mainstream, do a search for Teenage Kicks on youtube and you'll see that they did make an impression on many American musicians. --J

Happy New Year from J

I’m not at all speaking for K, but I’ve been thinking quite a bit about whether I have anything to say on this blog anymore. When we started out writing, we were living in the same city and seeing lots of live shows. Sharing our experience at those live shows was the basis for the blog. We have since both relocated to other places, and while London is right on my doorstep with more music opportunities than I could hope for, my primary responsibilities, like bringin home the bacon, have made it more and more difficult to take advantage of them. Isn’t it just the way when one most needs an outlet, there’s no time for that outlet?

Anyway, I feel the need to re-state my mission here since the live music slant will probably once again be less and less of what I write about in 2009. And when it does, I fear as it was this year, it won’t be much variety but instead a true favorite. My love of music hasn’t changed so I’ll continue to post record reviews and the like. If you’re interested, keep reading. Thanks and Happy New Year! --J

Happy Holidays!

I missed this last year. They've been showing The Killers' Don't Shoot Me Santa on all of the Christmas video countdowns in the UK and I laugh everytime I see it. It's stereotypically American. --J

It Just Ain't Christmas

My friend DP just sent this to me. -K

It just ain't Christmas

...without Grace Jones in all her Jean-Paul Gaultier glory.I have never heard a better version of this song(excluding the Chet Aktins morphine-drip intrumental version). How tasteful- and merciful - of her to sing only a single verse. Even without all the brilliant gay subtext that made Pee Wee's holiday showa minor masterpiece of good-natured subversion (" I hope it's not afruitcake...." quips Pee Wee. "Sorry Grace, back in the box," he continues)this non-sequitur moment might provide an avant garde touch that wouldreduce Marcel Duchamp and Jean Cocteau to hot tears of envy.But they weren't around in the 80s. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98JrWm9IMMA

Papa Roach Ex-Drummer Sues Band

The ex-drummer of Papa Roach, Dave Buckner, who quit (fired) last Christmas Eve due to substance abuse issues is now suing the band for profits he supposedly should have earned over the last year. Apparently, after he officially left the band no one did anything about the fact that he remained a partner in the various companies the band formed. Profits were made and bank loans happened, all of which he was excluded from. He wants to dissolve those companies and get the money he is owed.

There's hundreds of thousands of dollars at stake here. I'm slightly curious to know what sort of "companies" the band formed, especially after I can't seem to find out anything about them online. -K

You're So Vain - Foo Fighters

Since all I have seen is this youtube video, I don't understand the context of Foo Fighters playing a Carly Simon cover on a Grammy nominations show. Was everyone performing asked to do a cover? All I know is this was a pleasant surprise to watch over morning coffee. This past June I got obsessed with that song for the second time in my life. I like the combination of Carly Simon and Mick Jagger's vocals on it and the lyrics are classic. So on a flight from Salt Lake City to London, I put it on a playlist I've been playing quite a bit.

Dave's growl adds a certain menacing quality to the song. It's more like "You're so vain and I'm gonna make sure you don't live anymore because of it". Hahaha --J

Kings of Leon - O2 Arena

Sorry, this post probably says more about me than the band…

It’s 5:45pm and I’m on a conference call that’s running over with no signs of ending. I’ve got a train to catch to get to North Greenwich at 6:42pm and I’ve got my husband’s suit to pick up from the cleaners and a parent to call about tomorrow’s slumber party and I’ve got to stop off to dispose of the laptop. I also see someone pacing outside my office door. Something’s not right here. They are seriously killing my pre-concert buzz.

Okay, I missed the 6:42 train and missed any opening act, but did make it to the arena as they were setting up for the main attraction. The arena seemed so big for Kings of Leon, the band I saw at Pop’s just two years ago, but it truly was sold out. I started to get out some paper to write down the set list and then I made the decision to get out of task mode and just enjoy the show.

The stage was not over the top busy like some arena rock shows, but pretty simple. As usual there was not a lot of chatter with the audience. Caleb did say that when they walked into the arena that day they were blown away by the size as well.

They started the set with Closer and then Crawl and for a moment I wondered if they would play Only By the Night from start to finish. After Crawl they varied the setlist to contain tracks from all of the other records. The set was a little under two hours but with little banter, they covered a lot of ground.

Rumors circulated in the UK press a few weeks ago that the whole UK arena tour might be cancelled due to Caleb’s drinking but they laughed off reports of this a few days ago. There were no signs of such an issue on stage. He never sounded better. I have to say that the worldwide success looks to be agreeing with them. They all looked confident and looked as if they were enjoying the moment. It was such a solid set that I have a hard time picking a favorite.

As I skipped out on the last song of the encore to catch the train, there was a guy and his buddy in front of me and they were very drunk and complaining that they didn’t play California Waiting. It is one of my favorites but they played so many of my other favorites that I didn’t seem to miss it. When these two guys were figuring out where their destination was one of them kept saying “We need to get to St. Pancreas Station!” (It’s St. Pancras). Hearing the word ‘pancreas’ and seeing his nauseated face made me think of bodily functions so I moved further down the escalator to avoid his potential vomit. --J

The Loneliest Man in the World

Have you ever found yourself alone at about 3:00 in the morning sitting in the dark, the party is over, no cigarettes or booze left, and you begin questioning your life? That’s what Kanye West’s new record sounds like to me. While the music on most tracks is cold and electronic, the lyrics are pure emotion, with Kanye singing more than rapping on most songs. I think this lyric from Welcome to Heartbreak explains where Kanye’s head is at:

Chased the good life my whole life long
Look back on my life and my life gone
Where did I go wrong?

It doesn’t come off as “poor me”, maybe because of the production of the songs. What a shock to hear a hip hop record where someone is reeling off brand names but only in order to say that they aren’t making him happy. Hip hop in general is not my thing, but after seeing Kanye open for U2 in St. Louis a few years ago I have always been interested to see what he is doing. His performance was not what I expected and I think this record proves he is willing to continue going in unexpected directions. --J

This is Random

I threw out my copy of Q Magazine with Noel Gallagher's mug on the cover. I wish I still had it so I could quote him directly but a paraphrase will have to do. In the interview he made a statement, something like the UK has better fashion and music than the U.S. He was asked what music he likes and he recommended a local artist, The Jim Jones Revue. This jumped out at me since that's probably the only English artist I have seen live since my arrival in the UK a year ago. I found a video of the Jim Jones Revue on youtube that I thought I would share. If this doesn't look like an imitation of American Roots Music, I don't know what does. So is Noel trying to say that the English do American music better because this looks like an imitation, and in my opinion, not a superior one.

I'm not saying that the U.S. doesn't have its fair share of manufactured music, but I feel like I'm overloaded with it here, especially covers of good songs. I read recently that the X-Factor winner (for Americans, think American Idol) will cover Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah. Seriously? They are claiming it will be the number one record this Christmas. Again, seriously? Can Simon Cowell be stopped? He is the man behind this as well. Yuck.

For your amusement check out this boy band from the mid-90s that didn't make it over the pond. It's a bad cover (Cat Stevens) and it has all of the trappings of a bad boy band video. What do we do with the rest of the guys while the main guy sings the song? Let's have some of them look menacingly into the camera. How about we spend some money on crazy special effects and light up their hands?

The Killers Day & Age - J's Review

Four times through, I need to listen to a record four times through before I trust that my initial reaction is valid. It's not a good sign for me when I'm listening to a record and the music just fades into the background unnoticed, and that's what happens with Day and Age. I went back and looked at how many songs of the two previous Killers records I love. Hot Fuss, I could listen to the first five songs over and over again and do still on a regular basis. Sam's Town, I ended up liking that material more after seeing some of it live than I did on my first reaction but again five songs stick with me there as well (first six minus Bling and then The River is Wild). Honestly on Day and Age, Losing Touch and Spaceman are my only faves and will be on regular rotation. I'm not even that wild about Human.

This new record has made me wonder what is it then in that handful of songs that appeals to me. I think the song Jenny Was a Friend of Mine is a good example. The song has a prominent bass line and a good mixture of guitar and keyboards. But the vocals, I love that Brandon can sound like he is completely insane ("She said she loved me!"). That's what does it for me, and you usually only get that on the faster material. With an album made up mostly of mid-tempo songs, there aren't enough opportunities to hear this.

Even though I'm not happy with the record, I am still very disappointed that I missed out getting a ticket to their O2 Arena performance here in London in February when the tickets sold out in record time. I would go see them again in a heartbeat.

On a side note, The Killers will now always make me think of haggis. We stopped in a pub in Edinburgh to try this legendary Scottish dish back in October and the music overhead was a compilation of Sam's Town and Hot Fuss. My daughter A and I sang along as we waited for our meal.--J

The Killers Day & Age - K's Review

Due to the fact that this Las Vegas group has never denied their 80s influences (actually, calling the following artists mere influences is like saying Zoso is just influenced by Led Zeppelin) like Bruce Springsteen, Joy Division, or Roxy Music, I tend to listen to them and judge how much I like their interpretations of these influences rather than look at them as artists of original music.

The first band I ever saw in St. Louis back in 2004, when I was fresh off the boat, was The Killers at Mississippi Night. I later saw them at The Pageant with J and M. I feel like, not only do they make me nostalgic about the 80s, but they also make me nostalgic for my few years in St. Louis. In general, my Killers admiration can get complicated and cloudy.

I also feel like my admiration for this band is incredibly manic, too. I will tear up a Killers album like a dog with a new toy. Once I’m done I throw it out and have no interest in listening to it until I’m ready to start the cycle again. When I’m in full-on Killers mode I do stupid things like get speeding tickets because I’m lost in the cd. But who knows when the mood will hit? How can a band be a danger to my mental health? What is it about them?

At the end of the day, I am undeniably in love with The Killers. They symbolize a somic euphoria to me that keeps me one foot in even while I’m facing the other direction.

But, back to Day and Age. I was extremely pleased by more than half the songs I loved while the rest I felt were just fillers. In the same mold as Sam's Town, it seemed like the second half of the album contained the most. That's extremely disappointing since I think this band is capable of so much more.

My highlights include:
Losing Touch - A Bowie-esque/ U2 Pop era tune layered with saxes and ping pong or Atari-sounding keyboards that opens the album.
Human - This is The Killers that I know J loves. I do, too! It’s a synth-laden, pop new wave throwback at the band’s best. This one also happens to be the theme song to the latest Blackberry Storm ads.
Spaceman - 80s pop HIT style. This song is the gateway drug that eventually leads the way to an incredibly poor attempt of me doing Molly Ringwald dance. This song will bring a tear to my eye when I see them live next year in Nashville. God, this one will be the one to make me get a ticket again. I get lost in this one.
I Can’t Stay - In my opinion, this song is a total hats-off to Talking Heads... the Talking Heads material I can stomach. I love the breezy, Caribbean flow of this one.

I am about to echo J here regarding the tempo of some of the songs..to me, this album contains a frenzy of mid-tempo fillers (not including bonus tracks):
A Dustland Fairytale - Sad 80s.
This Is Your Life - African chant 80s, big with artists like Peter Gabriel or the Dream Academy (Life in a Northern Town guys).
The World We Live In- Bad 80s.
Neon Tiger - Tune that needs a dance remix.
Joy Ride - Roxy Music all the way. I think this one could grow on me, but just doesn’t quite cut it.
Goodnight, Travel Well - If you strip away the layers of music you’ll hear planetarium theme music wedged into the background which makes it sort of interesting to me, but otherwise this album doesn’t benefit from it.

In the end I know I have to choose a rating. In my opinion, though there are a few stand-outs, I think this one is for the fans. This is hard to do, but I give it an UNMOVING. -K

Kings of Leon - Q's Band of the Year

Great cover pic!

MGMT - Oracular Spectacular

This American band is getting a lot of press in the UK. Their song “Time to Pretend” was a free download on iTunes in America awhile back and while the lyrics are very cliché, it sticks with you. I gave the rest of the disc a spin about five times and the sounds are all over the place. There are times I think they are trying to sound like Bowie and there are times the vocals sound like Jagger on “Emotional Rescue”. In the end, it just doesn’t do much for me. --J